As for size, the thing is tiny, at least compared to most DSLRs. It won’t fit into anyone’s pocket, unless they happen to be a kangaroo or clown, but it clocks in at 5.3″x2.5×3.7″, which is a significant shrinkage over its older brother D50’s 5.2″x4″x3″. The LCD is a reasonably bright 2.5-incher.
As for easing newbies into DSLR features, this is where the D40 really tries to separate itself from the pack. In order to introduce you to the slew of controls at their fingers, tiny visual representations show visual examples of when each setting choice is tops. For example, when you flip through the ISO settings, a tiny picture of an dark room sits next to high ISO selection, while a sunny landscape lies next to a low one. You may not even know what ISO means, but you can you figure out what setting is best. To test this feature out, I gave the camera to my Luddite mother while I was home for the holidays. Within minutes, she was picking settings and taking decent pictures of her dogs (as mothers are wont to do). As they say: You can take a man to Sears and he’ll walk out with a nice picture, or you can teach a man to shoot, and he’ll create nice photos for life.
Each ISO setting has a corresponding image to describe the scene.
The bottom line: the D40 is a fine first DSLR. It likely won’t satisfy pros, but if all you’ve ever used is a PowerShot or a CoolPix, its an easy way to move up to something with a little more juice.